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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22390903">Just A Young Adult Romance</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Outdated_Meme/pseuds/Outdated_Meme'>Outdated_Meme</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Adventure Zone (Podcast)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alcohol, Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, F/M, I'll add more tags/characters as the story goes on, M/M, Oops, Underage Drinking, Underage Drug Use, Underage Smoking, Uno Reverse Card, but now, but this time, its one of those drama/romance teen movies, oopsies, the ones with the bad boy and shy girl, whoops, ya know the ones, yah-oh</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 19:00:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,197</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22390903</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Outdated_Meme/pseuds/Outdated_Meme</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Lup is the local bad girl, what happens when, in a bet, she has to date the local huge nerd, Barry??? </p><p>This is a play on the basic YA teen romance/drama high school story that I got way too invested in, I came up with it, posted some stuff on the TAZ Amino, and now here we are</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barry Bluejeans/Lup</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>AHHHHHH<br/>Someone on Amino is making art based off of this dumb au I made, I'm honestly shook</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Cars lined the driveway, bordering the perfectly manicured lawn. Lup and Taako passed by each of them, checking themselves out in every window. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was funny. Whenever someone was to look at the two, they’d almost immediately do a doubletake at the pair. While they were twins, which showed quite obviously, their clothes made them seem almost like complete opposites. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taako’s honey-yellow tulip skirt fluttered gently against his lower thighs as he confidently strutted up to the house, his simple, emerald green peplum blouse sleeves hugged the spot just below his elbows. Faux silver cuff bracelets held onto his wrists. His creme colored heels clicked against the walkway up to the house. Lup, who walked right next to him, donned ripped high waisted jeans. A dark red cropped short-sleeved turtleneck clung onto her torso, showing off her figure. An old, scuffed up, black leather jacket (that she prided on being fake) loosely held onto her arms, sleeves pushed up just from looking at how it laid on her shoulders, it was obvious that it was too big for her. Ratty hightops sounded in perfect time with her brother’s steps. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone always told them that they looked as different as night and day. A certain older gentleman even went as far as to refer to them as “Sun” and “Moon” respectively. They both thought that it was a load of horse shit.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The two stopped in front of an imposing building. The house looked new. It looked like it had been finished last week. Too new in some strange way, almost as if it had rolled off a production line, mandatory layer of dark brown paint and all. The dark roof sloped over the door and created overhead chitters for the windows, which were very big. The windows were huge in fact and seemingly inspired by something alien, taking up a large portion of the wall on either side of the door. The dark curtains were pulled aside, showing surfaces of white, glossy marble that iced over the kitchen counters. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Other than the people inside the house, it seemed like there wasn't a single square meter of organic material insight. Not even a comforting wallpaper that imitated warmth in some way. The house, it seemed, was a livable, modern mausoleum.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>When they entered the house, they stopped at the front door. It was uncomfortably large, with pristine matching furniture in black and white with occasional geometric outlines. Neon plush throw pillows leaned against each armrest, and a soft-looking blanket was thrown over the back of the couch. People sat on the couch, love seat, and both accent chairs. A few abstract artworks shaped to faces and bodies were plastered in frames against the smoky-gray wall. The room had an open kitchen with an island. Three stools, all occupied sat on one side of it. The floor was made of polished, dark brown wooden planks, a lush white rug was laid over the blemishless floor. Lup half wanted to drop down and run her hand across the ground, excited because it looked like the possibilities of splinters didn’t even exist in the room.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The room(s?) were so undeniably Wonder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hey, babes, you two made it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup and Taako turned to the voice. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lydia was dramatically scrawled across a dark purple chaise, which was the only piece of lounging furniture that was against a wall. Her brother, who was sitting on a matching ottoman, noticeably perked up at the arrival of the other pair of twins. He uncrossed his leg and stood up, walking over to Lup and Taako with is harms open. He gave each of them a quick hug and a mock cheek kiss, followed by Lydia. Lup noticed that they both had wine glasses with, unsurprisingly, wine in each. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup scrunched her nose up slightly at the smell. She covered it up by pretending to scratch her cheek. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Natch’.” Taako nonchalantly replied. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He was always better at pretending as if he belonged in a new environment than she was.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Lup finished, shooting them a dazzling, open-mouth grinned, one that Taako equaled. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“We’ve got some drinks and such in the kitchen, you two can help yourselves.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>When Taako turned to ask his sister if she wanted to get a drink, she was already speeding to one of the kitchen counters. Taako rolled his eyes and followed her regardless. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The counter had a collection of wildly different shaped bottles, all with similar, but still distinct substances. A man was also at the counter. He had tan skin and a mop of thick, curly brown hair tied loosely behind his head with a blue scrunchie. He was setting down a few more bottles of alcohol and turned around to meet Taako’s eyes. He seemed wildly out of place with his graphic t-shirt and ragged cuffed jeans. According to Lydia, the guy was the one who brought the majority of the alcohol since one of his older cousins ran a brewery, and according to Edward, that was the only reason he was here. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded at Taako and grabbed one of the bottles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taako shot his twin a quick glance. “So what’s your handle, kemosabe?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The guy hummed in response and began to pour alcohol into a glass cup from a cupboard. “Avi. You’re Taako?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The blond set his hand on his hip and flicked his braid behind him. “The one and only. A fan I presume? I am from TV after all.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What?” Avi asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup snorted into her cup. “You were on some rando news station for like ten seconds, and the only thing you did was drop your soda, stare into the camera, and dab.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ten seconds more than you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Avi offered Taako the alcohol which he quickly accepted. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So how do you know my name?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“School.” He said simply, pouring himself a drink. Avi excused himself from the conversation and went to search for an open spot on any piece of furniture. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before Lup and Taako could say anything to each other, another voice cut through.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Guys!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Heya, Maggie. Hey, Jules.” Lup addressed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taako followed with a greeting as well, “Oh shit, what’s up guys?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julia shrugged, “Nothing much. Here to get hammered I guess.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hell yeah, my man, let’s get fucked up.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnus laughed. “Kinda sad we don’t have a keg. Jules could totally help me do a keg stand again.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Magnus, getting a prescription for Adderall would be easier than getting a barrel full of some non-descript alcohol.” Julia said, trying not to laugh. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnus pouted and Julia wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a gentle kiss on his nose to cheer him up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Ew.” Taako said.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Julia rolled her eyes while removing herself from her boyfriend. “Like you haven’t done PDA before. Anyway, why aren’t you with Kravitz?” Julia questioned.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taako dramatically sighed and leaned against his sister. “Isn't here yet. Might not even show up. He's just going to leave me here, alone. By myself. All by my lonesome."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup laughed, ignoring the rest of his lamentation. “Fuckin’ square.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Whatever you headass, at least he doesn’t use lingo from the eighties.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup shoved her brother into the kitchen island, making him bump one of the cups. “Get fucked.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After what was probably about fifteen or so minutes, Lup became a bit disoriented. The music was so loud that it made her skin tingle whenever she happened to get close enough to one off the wall-mounted speakers on either side of the tv. The bass thumped in time with her heartbeat as though they were one, filling her from head to toe with music. She wasn’t sure what the song itself was, but she was certainly getting into it. Over the roar of music, a distant chatter could be heard. She couldn’t make out any words specifically, but laughter rang in her ears and wouldn’t seem to stop. Everything was blending together quite a bit, so when someone brought up Truth Or Dare, she agreed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>No one was quite sure who brought it up in the first place, because truthfully most everyone was either too drunk, too high, or a combination of both to remember. No one was also quite sure how everyone was able to get rangled into the living room to play, and yet, everyone was. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>All of the party attendants sat near the center of the room, almost everyone holding cups of beer, rum, or hard liqueurs. The collection of his=ghschool kids were messily spread, some on pieces of furniture, others on the rug. Lup was right about her initial assessment, it was as soft as she thought it was. The smell of weed was also extremely prevalent. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Off the bat, she recognized Magnus and Julia, who were huddled on the love seat, the Wonder twins, both of which returned to the initial places they were in when she and Taako entered the house, Avi, who half laid on the rug too, and Sazed, who sat on an accent chair, some boy Lup couldn’t recognize was perched on his lap. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She briefly remembered Taako talking mad shit about how Sazed had the </span>
  <em>
    <span>nerve</span>
  </em>
  <span> to even </span>
  <em>
    <span>think</span>
  </em>
  <span> about going to a party he was attending, to which Lup had to point out that they had mutual friends and were only dating for three or so weeks before their messy breakup which was almost two years ago. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She also saw Kravitz. The dirty-blonde haired girl was thankful that he showed up so that Taako would stop moping around. The nature of their relationship was a mystery to everyone (including themselves) but he was a good guy who made Taako happy, so she wouldn’t have any qualms about them making official. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>From her spot laying on the floor, Lup craned her neck to look at Kravitz. "When did you get here?" She asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, Ren brought me." He gestured to the short girl sitting next to him. Taako was sat on his other side and waved his sister over. She agreed and crawled over to the three, careful not to spill her glass’ contents. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Upon arrival, she immediately noticed how extremely out of his comfort zone Kravitz looked. He was in a white button-up shirt and slacks, sitting criss-cross, back straight. Taako, who’s arm was placed around his waist, was giving him words of encouragement. Ren patted his shoulder and asked if he needed to step out. She was met with a quiet ‘no’ and nodded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The game had gone on for about half an hour. Almost everyone had to do something stupid and or embarrassing. Lup, herself, was now proudly sitting shirtless for the next three rounds, her confidence unwavering. She was one of the only attendees who chose dare each time and did them all with no whining. She was thankful that Ren had her jacket and shirt (which she most likely folded into a neat pile) after she had to chug three cups of beer at once, which obviously made a mess.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sazed stared into Taako’s eyes. It was the dark-haired boy’s turn and it was obvious that he had something stupid planned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Kravitz, truth or dare.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Taako raised his eyebrows. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kravitz looked surprised and bit his lip. After a moment of silence, he spoke. “I’ll choose dare for this one. I haven’t done that yet.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Sazed’s grin made Kravitz nervous.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Hm…" He pretended to think before he nodded to Avi. "Dare you to smoke." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kravitz immediately felt even more nervous and looked down at the barley touched cup of beer in his hands. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Fuck off, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Zed</span>
  </em>
  <span>. If he doesn't want to, he doesn't have to." Taako interjected. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kravitz had turned down the offer of weed and edibles from multiple people. No one tried to pressure him into it yet or anything, and he was very grateful. Until now, at least. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No, I'll-I'll-I'll," he quickly cleared his throat to level it. "I'll do it." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You don’t have to, stud.” Taako said with his arms crossed over his chest. His hazel eyes were firmly planted at Sazed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No, it’s fine. I kind of want to.” He wasn’t lying. He’s always been curious if weed would make him feel and how it did with the others. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Avi packed the bowl and handed it to Kravitz, who seemed utterly confused. Avi’s green eyes went from Kravitz to the bowl. "You ever done this before?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"No?" He blushed at the slight tone rise in his voice.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He nodded and cracked a comforting smile at Kravitz, who was fiddling with a small collection of his dreadlocks, silver beads clicking together. Avi handed Lup the lighter and held the bowl to Kravitz’s lips. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It took him a few tries to completely inhale the smoke, but when he did he broke into a coughing fit. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Everyone was waiting with baited breaths to see his response.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He rubbed his eyes and coughed again. After a moment of silence, he looked over to Lup. "Is this gonna last forever?" he whispered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Laughter rippled through the room</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Do you like it?" Taako asked, hiding his worry. He set a hand on Kravitz's shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Not really." He answered, dragging out the 'o'. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You wanna go home?" Lup asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kravitz let out a yawn and slumped forward a little. "Yeah, I- yes please." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"I'll get you some water first." Taako said, already getting up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Avi checked his phone. “Hey, I’m about to leave, I can always take you home if you want. I didn’t drink much don’t worry.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kravitz, after a moment of thought, agreed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You can sit on the porch and I'll get my shit together, yeah?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Kravitz quickly nodded, spilling a bit of his drink, which Ren took out of his hand. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Before he exited the house, Taako made him drink some water before giving him a small, quick kiss. After the exchange, he left, followed by Avi.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The room was mostly silent, save for a few scant comments and the music playing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“So Lup.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked up. It was, of course, Greg Grimaldis. They didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>hate</span>
  </em>
  <span> each other </span>
  <em>
    <span>per se</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but they were both consistently trying to one-up one another, it had been that way since she and Taako had come to the city. Both were too headstrong for their own good in all honesty. Not that either would ever admit it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You know what we were talking about the other week? About how you could date anyone?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She looked up from the dark red lipstick staining the otherwise pristine glass in her hands. “Look, I’m gonna have to stop you right there, I’m not dating you.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He scrunched his face and looked at her, disgusted. “Good.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Someone shouted a quick “Fuckin’ rip.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, anyway, I don’t think you can.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>This declaration piqued her interest. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hm?” she hummed.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. So how about this. I dare you to ask someone out and date them for three weeks. I get to choose who.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edward clapped his hands together. “What about a kid from the robotics team? It’s full of shy weirdos.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Absolutely not. I’m not messing with someone’s feelings.” Lup cut in. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“It </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> a dare.” Sazed said.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup thought the idea was utterly ridiculous and downright cruel. She might have the whole ‘I don’t give a fuck’ aesthetic going on, but the idea that she’d have to pretend to like someone romantically just to shatter their heart in almost a month wasn’t an idea that she was particularly into. Of course, knowing the prick who asked her, she’d have to go along with it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I bet one-fifteen.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup bit her bottom lip. She knew it was wrong, and overall very awful to do something like this, but the fact that it was a dare and that money was on the line, all mixed together with liqueur, it didn’t sound too bad. “Um... Who?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How about... Luke or whatever his name is.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lydia chuckled into her glass. “You’re really stuck on the robotics team, aren’t you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Edward shrugged and took a drink as well.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Greg perked up. “Wait. There’s this one kid. Glasses, mullet. Dude always wears hoodies. His name starts with a B I think. He’s in mine and Magnus’ physics class.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Magnus furrowed his brows for a moment. “B… Barry?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, him.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup swirled her drink and bit her lip, rocking side to side a bit to calm herself. “Yeah, sure.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Greg leaned forward and stuck out his hand. Lup met him halfway and clasped their hands together. They both did a quick, confident shake.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Deal</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Lup tries to go through with the bet</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hey yall, ive been listening to Dissolve by Absofacto on repeat the entire time i wrote this, if you havent heard the song before, you should check it out, it got me in the vibe of writing for this fic tbh</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Even though she woke up hungover Sunday morning in Edward and Lydia’s living room, the smell of stale beer and the sight of hungover highschoolers made the memories of the bet rush back to her. Unfortunately, she wasn’t the only one who remembered. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now, though, it was Monday morning, and coincidently, the day Lup was dreading. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren pulled up to Merle’s house and turned off the red, slightly banged-up car before she sent Taako a text that she was out front. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A few minutes later, when they both came out of the cozy brown house, she started the car and unlocked the doors. The twins climbed in, Lup taking the front passenger seat, and Taako in the back. She happily greeted them and made sure they both buckled their seatbelts before she pulled out of the driveway. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh, Taako, I’m not sure if Krav told you, but he had to go in early, I won’t be picking him up.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” Taako said, looking at his phone. “He texted me.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup snickered. “You’ll see him at school, Koko.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’ll see him at school, Koko.” He mocked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren laughed, keeping her eyes on the road. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The car fell into a comfortable silence as it drove down winding roads, passing by foliage and buildings. Yellow, red, and brown colored leaves the ground, swirling away as the car drove past. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren turned the radio down and drummed her fingers against the steering wheel. “So Lup, about the party.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She turned away from the window to look at her friend. “What’s up?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You’re actually going to do it? The bet about that boy I mean.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup leaned back into her seat and crossed her arms. She glued her eyes back to the car door’s window. “I don’t want to talk about it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren half-heartedly smiled. "Yeah, I figured." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The three of them buzzed themselves in at the school's front door and walked through. The hallway was decently crowded as the other students passed them, all making their way to their respective classes. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You're going to get dress-coded."  Ren said to Taako. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>His purple, white, and gray pinstripe fabric shorts barely reached his fingertips, and his purple t-shirt was securely tucked into them. A large, gray zip-up jacket (that Lup, oddly enough, couldn’t recognize) was securely fashioned around his waist. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Nah, homie, I'm Taako. No one would."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He stopped in the middle of the hallway and posed, planting his short gray wedges on the white freckled tile. His 'bookbag' (which was just a purse that barely held three notebooks) was dramatically slung over his back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ren sighed and adjusted her thin sweater. "It's fifty-eight degrees outside, hon. You could get sick. The least you could do is actually put the jacket on."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"But Ren, it's my aesthetic. Maybe you should look for one too, babe." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She glanced down at her the knee-length light brown skirt that sat against her cedar-brown colored skin, a smile dancing in her lips. "I'm fine, Taako."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup snickered and slipped her hands into her leather jacket. “Her aesthetic is ‘chic librarian’, don’t disrespect our queen’s fashion sense again.“</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her comment caused both Ren ad Taako to laugh.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Their joking around was broken by a bell that rang from the speakers across the school, which signaled five minutes until first period started. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lup got through four periods. In the fifth one, which was about to start, she stood against the cafeteria's water fountain, looking at Barry. Or at the very least, someone who matched the description. Short, messy brown mullet, brown eyes, and black square-rimmed glasses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Truth be told, she should’ve been in Algebra II, but at the moment, she couldn’t care less. She just wanted to get, at the very least, this part of the bet over with. Lup told herself that she’d been through a lot worse than whatever this would be. She could do it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>While she was psyching herself up, she ran her hands through her wavy dirty-blonde hair. She pulled it back in a lazy, low ponytail. The hair tie stopped an inch or so where the now faded red began. The thought of how when she could scrounge up the money, she’d have to redye it briefly came up. She’d have to ask Taako, Ren, or Julia to help with it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup took a deep breath to steel her nerves before she began to walk over to the group’s circular lunch table. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lucretia cleared her throat. “The nervous system is a complex collection of nerves and specialized cells known as neurons that transmit signals between different parts of the body. Structurally, how many components are there, and what are their names?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucas sighed frustratedly. “I don’t know? I don’t even have a nervous system, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>am</span>
  </em>
  <span> a nervous system.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“This is why you can’t wait and procrastinate doing health class until your senior year,” she scolded, setting down his studying cards. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>As the bell rang, signaling the start of the fifth period, Avi set his backpack under his chair. “Why don’t you just write the stuff repeatedly on a piece of paper like you usually do? Doesn’t that always work?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucas slumped down in his chair and shook his right arm back and forth from his elbow. A black velcro brace was wrapped around the palm of his hand and stopped about halfway down his arm. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Avi snickered into his milk carton.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh my god, no jokes, I’ve gotten so much shit about it already.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“You can’t be writing and typing so much. Don’t you have the robotics competition coming up?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucas hissed out an unintelligible reply and grabbed Lucretia’s planner from her backpack. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yeah,” she answered for him as she looked down at his form. “The seventh, next month. The doctors said your tendons should be considerably less inflamed by then. As long as you take the anti-inflammatories at least.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The what?” Lucas asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucretia sighed and picked up her phone. “We can pick them up after school. You’re paying for gas.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucas nodded and went to pull out his lunch.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Which one of you is the older sibling again?” Avi joked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Half-siblings.” Lucas complained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry joined the table, followed by Johann. Barry sat his bookbag down on the floor and Johann dropped his things on the table next to Avi. He also carefully set his violin case on the extra seat to the side of him, pulling the chair a bit closer to his. Before anyone could greet either of the boys, Johann lifted up his ID as he moved the chair. “How many times do you think I would have to wrap my lanyard around my neck for it to kill me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“No-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Avi cut Barry off by laughing loudly. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>All of the table’s occupants turned their attention to the second voice that laughed with him.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>It was a tall, intimidating looking girl. She had on a leather jacket and a white shirt with cheesy flame decals along the border of the bottom-most seam. She had a pair of fishnet stockings under smokey-gray colored shorts. She had several piercings that decorated her ears and face. She was</span>
  <em>
    <span> Lup.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>Pretty much everyone in the school knew who Lup and her twin brother were. They’d been at the school since around the start of last year, and both had quickly risen through the social hierarchy straight to the top. Taako, because he was a social butterfly who managed to get the majority of people he spoke to to like him after just one conversation, and Lup because she was opinionated and bold, unafraid to stand up to anyone, including a few police officers after she graffitied the front of a bridge that was part of a popular overpass.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The 5 exchanged glances at one another. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hello?” Lucas started.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>She completely ignored him and turned her attention to Barry, who hadn’t even managed to sit down yet. "Hey. Barry, is it?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He clutched the back of the chair and looked to his left, his face heated up slightly at the unexpected attention. “Um…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup slipped her hands into her pockets. "Well?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Oh, uh. Y-yeah." Barry stuttered out. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup looked down at him and calmly nodded her head a few days. "Cool, cool. You interested in a date?"</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry noticeably recoiled, raising his right hand in front of his chest. He tilted his head to the side ever so slightly. "Um?" A dark red blush slowly crept onto his face and he played with the side of his glasses. It looked like he was using the chair in front of him as a shield now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lucretia chortled into her cardigan's sleeves and put her head down on the table. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Avi and Lucas started at Lup while Johann looked at his phone with an uninterested look on his face.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"So you interested?" Lup shot him a quick wink and shuffled her weight to her right leg. A smile played on her black and red coated lips.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>From across the table, Lucretia peaked up at Barry from her sleeves, outwardly cringing. She mouthed a silent "say something".</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry blinked rapidly for a couple of seconds while running his hand through his hair. He didn't understand what was going on at this point. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A couple of people from neighboring tables looked over their shoulders, watching the scene. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry noticed and it made his face heat up more. "Can I- uh, talk to you? Like, in the hallway?" He asked, quickly glancing at his friends and then back to her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup leaned her head back, showing off her septum piercing, not breaking eye contact with him. She moved her hands onto her hips and rolled her shoulders working a few kinks out. "Yeah, sure. Come on." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry looked surprised. "Oh, now- yeah. Right." He clambered away from the table and from the safety of his makeshift shield, stumbling over his backpack. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup chuckled to herself as she led him out of the cafeteria and into the hallway that led to the gymnasium and locker rooms They turned the corner and stopped at a smaller branched off hallway that led to the physical education equipment storage closet. The entire time, Barry felt increasingly more stressed out. Their setting felt more like a murder scene than somewhere someone would confess their feelings.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>After Lup was sure that they couldn’t be seen by any teachers by first glance (she was technically truant from one of her classes, after all) she turned to the brunet. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Why?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup stopped. That certainly wasn’t the first thing she was expecting to hear. “What?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry felt embarrassed again. “Why did you ask me on a date?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup, in response, gave him a shrug. “Why not?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>He tucked his hands into the front pocket of his black hoodie and leaned up against the wall behind him. “It’s just weird, Lup.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>A teasing smirk made its way onto her face as she set a hand on the wall beside his head. “You know my name?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>At this moment, Barry felt like a dear in headlights, frozen to his spot. “I-I, yeah? I mean everyone does? By default? You’re sort of popular.” He turned his head to a blank spot on the white-painted brick wall across from him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Is that a yes? Or…” She trailed her sentence off. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know?” stated, nervously.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry didn’t want to say no in case she genuinely wanted to go out with him, but at the same time, he couldn’t say yes. The idea that she’d ask him out was insane. The idea that </span>
  <em>
    <span>Lup</span>
  </em>
  <span> had approached </span>
  <em>
    <span>him</span>
  </em>
  <span> and asked for a date was a wild idea. Barry thought it even bordered on suspicious. They’d never spoken before, in fact, he didn’t even know she knew his name. They had biology together last semester, but that was about it. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her confidence faltered slightly. She didn’t mean to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> person, but she knew she was damn fine, and not just to herself. Several people, guys, girls, and non-binaries, had asked her on dates in the past. In all honesty, she wasn't expecting this response. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How about this instead." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Lup leaned away from him before she unclipped his pen from his ID badge. She pulled out one of his hands from the hoodie pocket and pushed up his sleeve. The pen ran across his arm, forming a series of numbers.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>"Feel free to think about it and shoot me a text." She gave him a soft, genuine smile for a moment. "And don't feel pressured to say yes." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She knew that, by saying that, she gave him a very obvious out. In fact, she was quite sure that she wanted him to reject her. Barry seemed to be a sweet, albeit shy dude and really didn't want to see him get his heart broken. Especially not by her. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry noticed Lup's slight change in energy and ran his hand up to his sleeve. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>"You alright?" He asked, concerned. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>She shook it off and replied with a simple "yeah, of course."</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her confident grin reappeared and she gently grabbed the hand that belonged to the arm with her phone number on in. She placed the pen in his grasp and then kissed the back of his hand. With a mischievous little wink, she left. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>After she rounded the corner, Barry felt like he could finally let himself breathe properly again. His mind was absolutely racing. Instead of continuing to focus on the weird events, he cleared his throat and went back into the cafeteria, sliding the glass doors open and walking inside. When he got back to his table, his friends looked at him expectantly. He shuffled back to his seat, this time actually getting the chance to sit down.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Avi spoke first. "What happened?" </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm gonna be honest with ya', bud, I'm not really sure." </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Oh?” Lucretia said. She folded her hands together.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Barry, with a choppy motion, shrugged.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, so then are we gonna talk about how socially inept you are then?” Lucas asked.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“And you’re any better, how?” Lucretia teased back. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I think the only one who can function in society normally is Avi.” Johann stated. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Even though Lucretia’s eyebrows were furrowed together, she still smiled. “I oppose that notion.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>While his friends were playfully teasing one another, Barry reached for his bottle of water. He stopped, noticing a mark on the back of his hand. It was lip-shaped and comprised of two different colors, the top being black, and the bottom being deep red. It was a strange coincidence, as his face quickly flushed to the same shade of red. A coincidence that didn’t go unnoticed by his tablemates. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>The first chapter is done. I rewrote it so many times and I'm still not fully happy with it, but I know if I do it again, I'll end up scraping the whole story, so here it is. I hope you enjoyed it regardless.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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